Sunday, September 27, 2015

While reading "Aria" by Richard Rodriguez, I realized how vital a language is to an individual.
A language is a way of communicating and learning.Aria'sreading also reminded me of Kristof articlewhen he mentioned how the parents' background can effect their children's future.Richard Rodriguez struggled as a young
student because his first language was not English; immediatelycame to my mind the same issue we had with my older son Omar.

My husband and I are
originally from Egypt. Our mother language is Arabic. We spoke Arabic all the time with each otherand with Omar too. My mom, my dad and my brother lived close to us. They
used to talk in Arabic to Omar as well.

When Omar started his first year of school, we didn't realize that we are going to face a big problem till he
came back from school the first day. Omar used to know only a few English
words, which is not enough for him to feel confident in the classroom. When he came
back from school the first day, he was crying very hard and kept saying only
one sentence, "I'm not going to school never ever again no matter
what" of course that was in Arabic.

I went to the school and talked to
his teacher. She said it is the language barrier that makes him crying and
doesn't understand what the teacher or the kids were trying to say. She told
me the same thing the teachers told Richard Rodriguez's parents that we had to start
speaking English with him at home. She also
told me that the school had a wonderful class
called "ESL" which was for kids whose English is a second
language for them.

We started speaking English at home. We watched American TV instead of
just Arabic channels. We read English stories, butI didn't let Omar feel confused like what happened to Richard. I told
him how important for all of our family members to learn more English even grandma and
grandpa. So he didn't feel that he was the only one. We also kept speaking
Arabic, because I believed it was very important to speak two languages, two cultures and to be proud of them.

Omar now is ten years old. He speaks fluent English and Arabic. He is teaching his little sister how to use both languages in his own fun way. I'm so proud
of him.
After Reading "Aria I think family is the most important thing in a person's life. Due to his lack of knowledge of the English language, Rodriguez lost great deal of family ties.

This article will continue to be an eye opener for me as I'm becoming a teacher. I want to embrace the different cultures and encourage the use of both.

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Connections:

Peggy Mcintosh, in her article "White Privilege Knapsack", puts together a summary
of my previous readings of Johnson, Delpit, and kristof.
Macintosh makes it very clear by revealing a list ofall the whites benefitfrom.

ThenB . Deutsch adds the male privilege
checklist to open up our eyes to see that there are invisible systems
that cause racism in addition to individual acts of meanness.

Nicholas Kristof
discusses one of the important reasons for making the U.S.A theland of limitations not the land of opportunities as many people
think, which is social class racism. But in "White privilege Knapsack"it's clear that there are two more reasons that make the U.S.A the Land
Of LimitationsWhich is gender and race
racism.

Mcintosh mentions in one of herwhite privilege checklist that " If a traffic cop pulls me over or ifthe IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven't
been singled out because of my race".

This reminds me of Johnson
reading when he mentions the famous incident of Rodney King who doesn't have thewhite privilege to
protect him. King said his famous phrase to describe the long history of racism in the U.S.A ."Can't we all just get along?"

Johnson also mentions
in his book how Mcintoshsorts privilege in two types "The first is based
on whatshe calls
"unearned entitlements" which are things that all people should have,
such as feeling safe in public spaces. But When an "unearned entitlement"
is restricted to certain groups, however, it becomesa form of
privilege she calls "unearned advantage". The other form of
privilege-what Mcintoshcalls"conferred dominance".

Mcintosh says"I have often
noticed men'sunwillingness to grant that they are overprivileged, even though they may grant that women
are disadvantaged" which is one of Lisa's Delpit five aspects ofpower"Those with power are frequently
least aware of - or least willing toacknowledge - its existence. Those with less power are often
most aware of its existence".

Now, after we all know that
oppression caused by racism is not only in individual acts of meanness but it
is also in invisible systems .

This reflects his friend, Rick Goff, as an example of how " talent is universal, but opportunity is
not". Goff was "Smart, talented and hard working, but he faced an uphill struggle from birth". Kristof explains how Goff was talented but he didn't has the opportunity to prove it, because he was in a situation that he raised himself along with his brother and two sisters.

he lived poor and died poor.

Kristof also argues that the "American Dream" is an environmental issue rather than a racial issue. The results is based on a Stanford University study that "the race gap in student test scores has diminished, but that the class gap has widened". However, fifty years ago, the race gap was significantly twice as it is now. He gives many examples, one of them is the author Neal Boortz who looks at the poor people as the same as the "toenail fungus" that everybody tries to avoid.

Parents are very important in their kids future. In a society that classifies people by their class level. Also kids needs to feel the warmth of the family, simply, they need love and care for their future too.

His main point in this article is that success can not be achieved when someone works hard; although in some cases it is true. But it is mostly a reflection of how one's parents and grandparents did well in life.

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Hi everyone.
I am Marwa.
I am 35 years old. I was born in Egypt, in a beautiful city that's right on the Mediterranean sea called Alexanderia . I have earned my first bachelor degree in architecture from there too.

The famous pyramids of Egypt

My beautiful city "Alexanderia "

I have a wonderful husband , and two lovely kids, 10 years old boy "Omar"

and a little 6 years old princess "Dana". I live in West Warwick, RI.

My little family

I'm attending RIC for my second degree in elementary education. It's very interesting for me to go back to school after 11 years since I graduated. I'm excited. My kids are excited too when they see me doing homework like them. When I'm not in school, I'm taking care of my family. I love cooking, shopping , and traveling. We had a great summer by going many places. I can't wait for next summer.